STEP BY STEP

Right from the title page, where the little ant sits on a chair backed with mapleseeds to don four red sneakers, children will gleefully enter Smith's world of enormous-looking grasses and leaves as seen from an insect's point of view. ``Step by step'' she travels from home, over stones and under branches, to meet her friend, a grasshopper. After a climb up a flower for nectar and a watery adventure when they're spilled from a leaf boat, the joyous pair dances under a spray of dazzling droplets. Then the little ant heads home, precisely the way she came—but time's passing has slightly altered each setting in the cleanly rendered watercolor illustrations. Smith draws readers in with close-up perspectives, enlivens scenes with other small creatures, and skillfully modulates light as day and story together come to a close. Long a favorite in Wolkstein's storytelling repertoire, a spare, well- honed tale in an appealing setting that will make it a winner with the preschool set. (Picture book. 2-5)